BIKE: FW: Seeking Bike Enthusiasts for Yellow Shirt Day at Austin Farmers' Market

[Jeb Boyt]

FYI

----Original Message Follows----
From: "Suzanne Santos" <suzanne>
Subject: Seeking Bike Enthusiasts for Yellow Shirt Day at Austin Farmers' 
Market
Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2004 11:37:05 -0500


Dear Bike Enthusiasts, Riders and Supporters,

NOTE: This list is only to be used as a working group elist for the planning 
of a "Yellow Shirt Day at the Austin Farmers' Market."

Some of you would have had contact with the Austin Farmers’ Market (at 
Republic Square Park- 4th and Guadalupe) last year because of a tie-in with 
the July weekend that Lance Armstrong took his fifth yellow jersey. We had a 
number of you organize bike rides from sites within Austin with the end 
destination being the farmers’ market. Some of you led a short tour of the 
Lance Armstrong bikeway from the market, and others had tables at the market 
to promote your individual groups/programs. Some of you may be new to this 
idea, but I wanted to propose it as a collaborative promotional weekend that 
can literally ‘pop-up’ with just a little bit of coordination. The beauty in 
this is that the Austin Farmers’ Market occurs anyway as an active, well 
attended event, and we would like to support the biking community by 
offering our venue as a place to celebrate a win for Lance Armstrong on the 
weekend the Tour de France is finished.

We are proposing to the bicycle community to hold a “Yellow Shirt Day at the 
Austin Farmers’ Market” July 24. Here are some ideas for what could unfold 
that day (the market hours are 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.)

1)	Bike groups meet at several locations in Austin and then ride down to the 
Austin Farmers’ Market as their “finish”. They receive a free bottle of Rain 
Water from the Market, and vendors will be approached by Market staff to 
give discounts to bike riders (like Taco Shack, Texas Coffee Traders, Daily 
Juice—pending).
2)	Bike groups can set up tables in the grass of Republic Square Park to 
advocate and educate the public about their group/activities at no charge. 
This “Bicycle Expo” would have the similar structure as the Earth Day Expo 
that the market hosted during the weekend after Earth Day. There are a few 
guidelines (see below).
3)	Pre-weekend interviews can be arranged with bike group representatives by 
the Austin Farmers’ Market staff as the AFM works with media for the event. 
(As well as interviews on site the day of).
4)	Scheduled workshops for July 24 in the shade of the big oak (where we 
usually hold our chef’s demos) can be arranged and promoted, with notice of 
a commitment by Friday, July 16. Topics for workshops could include “Fast 
Flat Tire Fix”, “How to carry market produce home safely on a bike”, “What 
to eat at the Market to get a healthy ride”, etc.
5)	Bike group supporters can give short tours of the Lance Armstrong Bikeway 
that actually passes through Fourth Street, part of the Austin Farmers’ 
Market.
6)	A bike supporter who has up-to-the-minute news on the Tour de France can 
give one or two updates via the Market pa system to keep shoppers aware of 
Lance’s position.
7)	Any Market attendee, whether as a bike rider or shopper or passer by, 
will receive discounts on Austin Farmers’ Market merchandise, water, etc. if 
they wear a yellow shirt that day. We will also work with vendors to offer 
discounts as well.

What happens next?

--Confirm any interest by immediate email.
     I would like to know if there is some interest in at least conducting 
some of the suggested activities above by tomorrow so that we could get it 
in the calendar listings of the paper (need by tomorrow) and in various 
websites, radio listings, etc.

--Informational and coordination meeting
     I can meet with as many of you that are interested in participating 
with the July 24th weekend at the Market on either Tuesday, July 13, 
Thursday, July 15 or Friday, July 16th at 6:30 p.m. at the Sustainable Food 
Center offices. Please RSVP with your first and second choices and I will 
get back to everyone with the day we will meet.

--Communicate your commitment by email, phone
If you can’t meet this week, then let me know what activity you can 
participate in, with the specifics, and we will accommodate you.

--Communicate with your members
Please use the forthcoming ‘email blurb’ about the “Yellow Shirt Day at the 
Austin Farmers’ Market” with your elists when we send the completed text to 
you in the next few days.

--We will send out updates over the next two weeks of what different groups 
are doing as commitments come in for being a part of the bike expo, giving 
workshops and having bike trips down to the market.

--We have a LOT of THANKS to give to you all for playing your part in 
keeping Austin healthy and making it a great place to live. We hope to work 
together, on the fitness and diet side, to make inroads to help even more 
people convert to a healthier lifestyle.

Here are guidelines for setting up a table in the Bicycle Expo area of the 
park during the Austin Farmers’ Market:

1)	Bring your own table, chairs, flyers, props and display items to the 
Market.
2)	If you do bring a tent or an umbrella for shade, you must weight it down 
with concrete blocks, sand bangs, etc. If you do not have weights, you must 
borrow some from the Market staff, and, if we are out, then you must take 
down the shade for safety measure.
3)	You must off load from a curbside meter, or, park temporarily along the 
barricade area on Guadalupe to offload, and then immediately park your 
vehicle.
4)	You may park either in the NORTHERN HALF ONLY of the Classified Parking 
lot next to the market (avoid the farmer truck area), or, in the 4-level 
state parking garage at 3rd and San Antonio, or, at a free meter space 
around Republic Square Park.
5)	You must be ready to greet the public at 9 a.m. and keep your table up 
with staffing until 1 p.m. The market ends at 1 p.m. and then you can break 
down and take away your booth items.
6)	If you are selling any item, e.g. you are a sports shop or an 
organization having a raffle--please limit your per unit price of any item 
to $5 and do not sell t-shirts. (Reason: The Sustainable Food Center, which 
is the non-profit organization that runs the Austin Farmers’ Market, must 
raise money in a variety of ways to fund the operations expenses of the 
Market. We do it primarily on Saturdays via t-shirt, shopping bag, and water 
sales. We also have sign ups for contributions. We do not want to dilute our 
ability to be able to keep the Market running. In addition, the more money 
that is spent on bike specialty items at the Market, the less that will be 
spent on the farmers—who are the reason why we have the market in the first 
place). You may sign up people for a mailing list or a petition.

Let’s hear from you soon and have a great Yellow Shirt day at the Market! 
-Suzanne


--
http://www.austinfarmersmarket.org
WE ARE NOW OPEN WEDNESDAYS - Through SEPT. 29!
WEDNESDAY HOURS 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
AT REPUBLIC SQUARE PARK - FOURTH AND GUADALUPE
ALSO--Every Saturday March 20-December 18 . New Hours 9 am to 1 pm
Some Like it Hot Festival..August 21st!

Suzanne Santos
Project Director
Farm Market and Food Systems Education
Sustainable Food Center
P.O. Box 13323
Austin, TX 78711

P: 512-236-0074
F: 512-236-0098
E: suzanne
The Austin Farmers' Market is a project of Sustainable Food Center -- 
http://www.sustainablefoodcenter.org
--